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War Resisters'
International, London, 27 March 2008

Colombian conscientious objector Diego Yesid
Bosa Rico, who has been illegally recruited on 23 February 2008,
began a hunger strike in protest against his recruitment and
treatment on 26 March 2008. He is also refusing to enter the
dormitories. In response, the military offered him to do his
military service in an office, without the need to take up arms.
However, on the morning of 27 March 2008, they threatened him
with five soldiers.

Diego Yesid Bosa Rico was
recruited in a 'batida' (raid of military in public places) on
23 February 2008, and initially brought to the Battalion Simon
Bolivar in Tunja, about three hours from Bogota. He was then
transferred to the Special Energetical and Road Batallion No 6
'Jose Maria Carbonell', where he is supposed to serve his
military service as a regular soldier.

The Colombian military claims that this practice is legal.
According to Article 50 of degree 2048, the recruitment
authorities have the right to carry out patrols to find draft
evaders and/or persons who did not define their military
situation. While - according to the degree - it might be legal
to check people's papers, what usually follows is certainly
illegal, and does not meet neither Colombian nor international
legal standards. According to the law, those who do not define
their military situation in time can be compelled to do so.
However, the practice of taking those without military ID to the
barracks to process them there directly deprives those youth of
their right to a proper legal process, as they have almost no
chance to claim legal exemptions, to submit any prove or other
papers supporting their right to exemption, and so on. That this
kind of process is illegal has also been stressed by the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in a decision on a
case from Guatemala in 1993.

Once recruited, Diego Yesid Bosa
Rico maintained his position that he does not want to be part of
any military, based on his conscientious objection and his
belief in nonviolence. In his conscientious objector
declaration he said:

"Violence
only breeds evil, and therefore I don’t want to be involved
in violence of any kind, not as a recruit of any army, legal
or illegal, as they all say they want to achieve peace and
justice, but under the crossfire of their weapons the life
of many human beings is taken away and with them there is no
hope for a better future." [...]
"I object to pressures
that the recruiting authorities have put in a verbal form on
me in order to renounce my rights signing the acceptance of
the recruitment in a regular form, being a student. I make
public my principles of conscience, and although I believe
our country needs to be helped with service, it should be
far away from a compulsory service of military character; a
service should be used to reduce the huge social differences
that exist actually in our country, and from a non-violent
standpoint." [...]
"I expose my motives
publicly, my principles before you as witnesses of my
motives, as I have refused to do many things during my life
and I have refused to do many things inside this battalion,
and I will continue to keep refusing and won’t take arms.
It’s highly probable that if my rights are not respected you
will also be witnesses of a death in a state of total lack
of possibilities to defend myself, only for the mere fact of
one being coherent with what my conscience is ordering me to
do. Whatever happens, I will not allow them to take away
from me my principles of conscience, my rights, as all of it
is a part of my life trajectory and life is a gift from God,
and I’m ready to defend lives in all its forms, but only
without using violence."

After the recruitment of Diego
Yesid Bosa Rico in the batida, his mother, Alba Luz Rico,
petitioned the National Recruitment Directorate, asking for the
release of her son from military service on several grounds,
including his right to conscientious objection and the illegal
recruitment procedure. Now, the military turned down the
petition, stating that the recruitment was legal and that there
are no reasons for exemption. The military even claims that
Diego Yesid Bosa Rico signed documents stating that none of the
reasons for exemption mentioned in article 28 of the law 48 of
1993. However, Diego Yesid Bosa Rico did refuse to sign any
papers, although he was under pressure to do so.

On 23 March 2008, Diego Yesid
Bosa Rico refused to take a rifle. He also noted, i.e. from the
response to the petition of his mother, that documents he
refused to sign appeared with his signature. In his response to
this, he decided to go on hunger strike.

War Resisters' International is
deeply worried about the situation of Diego Yesid Bosa Rico.

Two important legal aspects are
to be considered in the case of Diego Yesid Bosa Rico:

1.The way of recruitment.
Recruitment is regulated in Colombian law 48 of 1993. While this
law requires to "clarify
ones military situation when someone reaches the age of 18"
(Art 14), failure to do so can only be punished with a fine (Art
41 and 42). The law does not specify that in such cases the
normal recruitment procedure, as outlined in Articles 14-21 of
the law, does no longer apply. The recruitment of Diego Yesid
Bosa Rico is therefore illegal even under Colombian law. In
addition, the forced recruitment of Diego Yesid Bosa Rico is a
violation of the "right to
personal liberty (Article 7), the protection of human dignity
(Article 11) and the right to freedom of movement (Article 22),
guaranteed in the American Convention on Human Rights, in
connection with Article 1.1 of that same legal instrument",
according to a decision of the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights in a very similar case from Guatemala (CASE
10.975, 6 October 1993).

2.The right to conscientious objection.
Colombia is signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights. The right to conscientious objection is
recognised by the United Nations Human Rights Committee as a
legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of thought,
conscience, and religion, as guaranteed by Article 18 ICCPR. In
fact, in a recent decision on two cases of conscientious
objectors from South Korea, the Human Rights Committee stated
that not to provide for the right to conscientious objection is
a violation of Article 18 ICCPR (see CCPR/C/88/D/1321-1322/2004
from 23 January 2007).

War Resisters' International
considers the forced recruitment of Diego Yesid Bosa Rico as
arbitrary detention. It constitutes a violation of Colombian law
48/1993, of articles 7, 11, and 22 of the American Convention on
Human Rights, and of Article 18 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights.